Jean was already in bed when Armin crawled in next to him (he decided that the hammock was meant mainly for napping) that night. He faced away from him as he adjusted to try and get comfortable. This was made a little difficult, given the aching and remaining discomfort he could somehow still feel from birth. Regardless, he tried his best.

"You all right?" Jean asked when he sensed Armin fidgeting about behind him.

"I'll be fine, sorry if I woke you up." When Armin settled for laying onto his back, he stared up at the ceiling in near complete darkness. While he contemplated things, something in particular came to mind:

"Our first anniversary is in a couple of weeks," he whispered, unsure if Jean had fallen asleep yet.

"Yeah?" This confirmed that he hadn't.

Armin nodded. "I'm...ashamed to admit that I still don't really know all that much about you. Almost an entire year has gone by, and that fact still bothers me. You're my husband; I should know these things."

Jean shrugged, lifting an arm up in the air as he did. "What's there to know about? I used to be star quarterback for the high school football team. I used to live with my mom. Right now I work in an auto repair shop.

"I also live in a cheap house because my job can't really pay all that much. I'm also seventeen years old and married. That's really all you need to know about me."

He rolled over onto his other side to look at Armin directly, reaching out to stroke his cheek with a finger.

"Well, okay. Maybe there's one more thing to know about me."

"Which is...?"

The answer surprised him, to say the least:

"I love you."

...

Due to the fact that Armin's initially spectacular grades took a severe nosedive from which they never completely recovered, he wasn't the one who gave the valedictorian speech on the day of graduation commencement. He was grateful to be able to graduate at all, really.

Armin kept his eyes focused on his feet as he listened in on Principal Pyxis beginning to call names in no particular order (no one in school really gave much of a damn about alphabetizing).

He was actually blushing when he heard both his name and Jean's called right next to each other. Then came a grin as he wrapped his arm around Jean's, hearing a few of the audience going "Awww" at the sight.

On their way back to their seats after receiving their diplomas, Jean also planted a gentle kiss onto one of Armin's cheeks.

"Congratulations, Armin," he whispered while pulling back. "And Happy Anniversary."

...

Once the two went home after the ceremony, both of them set their now framed diplomas on either side of their daughter's urn.

The very sight of said urn caused Armin to shed a few tears. It was enough for Jean to turn and hold him in his arms. When Armin could then feel a slight wetness on his head, it was then that he realized Jean was crying too.

"I just wish Alyssa were here to celebrate with us properly," he whispered. To that, Jean could only nod.

...

Another year and a half or so passed.

In that time, Jean managed to convince Mister Smith to let him work full time, now that he had graduated.

Though it meant he'd be gone longer during the day, it also meant that money wasn't going to be so tight. Hopefully this year, there would be slightly better Christmas presents.

Armin was sitting on the floor, next to the table holding their miniature Christmas tree. He smiled to himself while carefully wrapping up a small box.

Tomorrow was Christmas Day itself, and he was rather excited. This particular gift was one he intended to give to Jean as soon as possible.

"Do you think Daddy will like it?" He whispered to the urn holding his daughter's ashes. "I hope he will."

On cue, the door to their little house opened, followed by Jean falling dramatically onto the kitchen floor. Due to it being late in the evening, he was covered in a mixture of motor oil and snow.

"Jean?" Armin asked when he didn't get up right away. In response, he just got some type of groaning noise.

"So many oil changes..." Jean moaned out while rolling over and pushing himself up. "Damn holiday weekend..."

Jean let himself be pulled up off the floor, and led to their small kitchen table. He shook his head to get rid of the snow, before running his oil covered fingers through it.

"Sounds like you've had a rough day," Armin said while getting a rag wet and scrubbing it over Jean's head. "Well, hopefully our friends' Christmas party will make things better. We can bring home a bunch of cookies and maybe go out to buy eggnog."

It did sound nice, getting sweet treats to help mitigate the soreness that Jean was currently experiencing.

...

The party itself was nothing to write home about. It was really nothing more than a few of their old friends from high school gathering together. The holiday treats were indeed to die for, though.

Of course, the entire time they were there, Armin was anxious to get back home and give Jean his special present. He barely paid attention to the time when there was a gift exchange.

After they did get back home and put the stuff they received away (it was mostly books and horse related items; Eren could be such a prick sometimes), Armin went over to the tree and picked up the small wrapped box. Without hesitation, he headed back over and handed it to Jean.

"Oh, well, what's this?" Jean asked while he proceeded to unwrap it the moment it was in his hands. As he did, Armin knelt down next to him and took a hold of his upper arm.

The wrapping paper and long box fell to the floor, discarded and quickly forgotten about. Jean stared at the white stick in his hands, an eyebrow raised.

"Uh, Armin? What's...?"

Armin just squeezed Jean's arm, before pulling away and settling his hands down onto his thighs. "It's mine. This is a positive pregnancy test, and...it's mine. I'd estimate the time of conception to be around my birthday last month." Suddenly he felt quite nervous. It sounded as though Jean didn't like this present.

Thankfully, Jean leaned in himself and gently kissed Armin's cheek. When he pulled back, Armin could see a light dusting of pink on his cheeks, along with a tiny stream of tears rolling down his cheek. Then he went in for another kiss.

...

Ultimately, one thing led to another, ending with both of them laying in bed naked, sweaty, and panting. The two of them stared up at the ceiling, with one of their bed sheets covering their privates.

Jean rolled over and started kissing Armin's face and neck again, with a moan of satisfaction like if he'd just partook in the most delicious banquet.

While he did this, Armin could feel one of Jean's hands slide down his torso, resting on his stomach. From past experience, he was expecting to be doing this a lot in the next few months.

Then Jean slid the rest of himself down, pressing his lips softly against Armin's still flat belly. He settled himself in between Armin's legs and lay onto his stomach, resuming his affection.

"Mmm..." He now was rubbing his nose over where he believed the baby was currently located. "You're gonna get so big. You're carrying my baby inside you, and that seriously turns me on."

Armin thought it was weird for Jean to have such an extreme pregnancy fetish, but still thought it was sort of cute nonetheless. It actually made him feel special and desirable, if somewhat embarrassed.

Going by how Jean went back up to Armin's face and continue lavishing attention upon him, it looked like he certainly did enjoy his present after all.

"Hopefully this time we're a little better prepared for it," Armin whispered as Jean started to trace a heart on his belly with his finger. Jean simply nodded, not letting himself be distracted.

After that came more cuddling and affectionate words. Armin couldn't stop from blushing when Jean kept whispering, cooing, and lavishing love onto him, as well as the unborn that was still probably just a bundle of cells at this point.

...

"Hi guys!" A few days later, before New Year's Eve, Marco answered the door cheerfully when he saw Jean and Armin had come to visit him. "What brings you here? The New Year's celebration isn't until tonight."

"We know," Armin said to him while he and Jean made their way to the spare bedroom. "We're just here to pick a few things up."

He didn't need to say any more. Going by the direction they were headed, it was clear that a little one was on the way.

But he was going to let them announce it themselves instead.

...

Their first doctor's appointment was done a few days after the new year. Like before, Jean and Armin waited in the room, expecting Doctor Hanji any minute now.

While they waited, Jean slowly dragged his finger across Armin's exposed belly. In an involuntary response, Armin shuddered and giggled.

"Jean, stop," he said. "That tickles!"

Rather than stop, Jean reached over and ran his fingers through Armin's hair. It felt nice and clean; Armin showered in preparation for this appointment.

He did pull back and sit up when Doctor Hanji came in to get started.

...

The expecting couple were now on their way home, strolling through the snow-blanketed park. Armin stayed by Jean's side, with one hand holding their ultrasound picture, and the other laying gently on his stomach.

"It's so tiny on here," he uttered while Jean kept him from slipping and sliding onto any hidden ice. "It's almost like it can't possibly be a human, but..." Now Jean slipped an arm over Armin's shoulders, taking a closer look for himself.

"And what do you know, it's a human we made," he said while pulling the photo out and holding on to it himself. "I must say, I'm quite a big fan of my own work."

Armin simply gave Jean a gentle shove. Then the two of them sobered up and became serious again.

"...Do you think there's a possibility of what happened the first time repeating itself?" Armin whispered.

Jean shrugged. "If it does, then it does. Shit happens."